Introductory fair at Excel

A market which is still developing briskly and the move to the prestigious new exhibition site were good omens for this year’s event. The fair was held under the auspices of the British Hardware & Housewares Manufacturers Association (BHHMA) and the Home Decoration Retailers Association (HDRA). The event has grown in size and status since it started in 1994, and this year’s move from Olympia to the new exhibition centre, Excel, was the next logical progression. It was the very first big fair to be held at Excel, so there were certain initial difficulties which were related to the new venue rather than to the DIY show itself. Some exhibitors had bad experiences with the logistics, some visitors has problems with the approach to the exhibition site, and the exhibition hall was evacuated on the Monday in the wake of a fire alarm. The cancellation of the trade conference that had been announced was also a matter of regret for some visitors. There were more than 200 exhibitors present overall, and almost half of these were exhibiting for the first time. Foreign participants came from Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Sweden and the USA. This year some big brand-name manufacturers for the first time failed to take part in the event. Where attendance figures are concerned, it was difficult to make any comparison with the previous year because of the completely altered hall layout. According to information from the organisers, there were just as many visitors (4 000) as in the year 2000. Some exhibitors had the impression that the fair was less well attended than they had hoped, while others were totally enthusiastic. One of these was David Hibbert, managing director of wholesalers Stax: “Excel is much better than Olympia. It is outstanding!” As Mike Watson of Plasti-Kote said happily, “For us the show went extremely well and we’ll be encouraging everyone else in the industry to take part in future.” For the second time Garden Expo took place in parallel to the DIY & Home Improvement Show. It received support from the BHHMA and HART, the independent garden centres’ buying and marketing group. The DIY Show was held at the new London venue, Excel, for the first time